Hurrah! Peter Mandelson stalks the spin room

We missed him in Bristol. In Manchester Peter Mandelson was the spin colossus. But he was banned last week. Now he’s back. The First Lord has just assured me that he sees no evidence of yesterday’s contretemps having any lasting effect. He describes the Duffy incident as a “mixture of mistake on the Prime Minister’s part and overkill on the media’s part.” He says he did a Jeremy Vine interview in a padded cell today – ‘I thought I had been sectioned’ – and had expected to be slaughtered by the listeners. “But there was nothing. I haven’t had that soft a ride since, well, 72 hours ago.” Eyebrow twitches slightly. He also says the polls show no sign of Bigotgate having an effect. Others around the PM are less sanguine. They don’t know whether it’s a one-off that fades with time, or a slow-burn as voters consider the sight of a crumpled Mrs Duffy being told the Prime Minister she was going to vote for called her a bigot.